The mother of a man left wheelchair-bound following a suicide attempt as a teenager has rubbished council claims about a controversial list of former Grove Academy pupils.
Coralie Burr said she and her son Joel were left devastated after finding his name on the list which was shared on social media and perceived by some as a list of “worst pupils”.
Dundee City Council insists the document, made for a retirement party and placed online by a cleaner, features only pupils who received “positive support” from the teacher.
Joel, who requires constant use of a wheelchair has attention deficit hyper-activity disorder (ADHD).
The 31-year-old tried to take his own life in 1999 at the age of 14, following a “distressing” period living with the condition.
Coralie said Joel was excluded from the school in 1999, and she received no support from educators. These events preceded Joel’s attempt on his life.
His family were forced to move from their house on Victoria Road to an accessible property.
Several people have contacted The Courier since the list was shared disputing the council’s assertion that those involved were well-supported.
It included one person currently awaiting trial for murder and two others have succeeded in taking their own lives.
Coralie said she and her son felt angered that those who should have helped some of the most vulnerable at the school were, instead, laughing at them.
Coralie said: “My son, Joel, was excluded from Grove Academy in 1999 before the October break.
“I appealed but never had a response or any acknowledgement from the education department.
“In November, Joel hung himself because of the distress he was having at school. He survived and now has a brain injury and is confined to a wheelchair.
“Both Joel and I were absolutely devastated to see his name on this list from the retirement function.
“We lived in the city, in a townhouse, but after his confinement to a chair we had to move to an accessible house.
“We had to go to Surrey for his rehabilitation, because there were no brain injury rehab theatres in Scotland.
“The head of ADHD support in Dundee was very supportive, and the care he received from the support unit in Grove school from a woman who no longer works there was also good.
“He was excluded a number of times before the age of nine, his ADHD went undiagnosed and he had so many problems in school.
“It is just awful, the thought that those who were there to help him were laughing about all of these vulnerable people. It makes me so angry.”
Ms Burr has spent decades campaigning for ADHD acceptance across the country, appearing at conferences and on television programmes to raise awareness of the condition.
Prior to Joel’s attempt on his life, Ms Burr fought for a diagnosis in her young son, gaining help from an Australian current affairs programme and a Harley Street child psychologist Dr Sam Tucker.
She is also a director of care at home and support service for people with additional support needs, The Inclusion Group.
